Tips to keep in mind for one of the busiest travel weekends of the year
Whether you have travel plans ready for Labor Day weekend or are hoping to book a last-minute getaway, we've got you covered in this interview with The Points Guy.
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00:00 It is September 1st. Labor Day weekend is upon us and if your weekend includes travel or if you'd
00:06 still like it to, Clint Henderson is here and you may recognize Clint, managing editor of The Points
00:12 Guy and Clint, it's always good to have you back. Thank you. Thanks for having me. It's always good
00:16 talking to you and Labor Day, one of the busiest travel weekends. So what are we expecting this
00:22 weekend at the airports and on the road? So we're hearing that it's going to be the third busiest
00:28 weekend of the summertime. The good news is despite just living through a hurricane, things are in the
00:35 green across the country. So we're really seeing what looks like minimal cancellations and delays
00:40 today and into the weekend. We expect about 14 million people in all to be headed out to travel
00:47 in some form or fashion, whether that's by car or by plane. So it's looking good right now. No
00:53 major snarls that we're seeing. And the really great news is typically the past couple of years,
01:00 whenever there's been a big weather event or a big cancellation event, it's taken the airlines
01:05 days, if not weeks, to recover. And we're not seeing that as much recently. So we're seeing a
01:11 quicker recovery by the airlines. I'm not sure if it's a learning curve or they're just finally
01:15 starting to hire up the people they need for these sort of emergency situations. So that's positive
01:21 news. And we'll hope that that means good things for the holidays to come as well. That is great
01:26 news. And for the last minute crowd, which I can sometimes identify with, if you haven't planned
01:31 your getaway yet, are there some affordable last minute domestic destinations out there?
01:35 Yeah, absolutely. I would say that my best piece of advice to folks who haven't booked anything yet
01:41 is check out the local attractions near you. What about that state park that you haven't seen before?
01:46 Those are some of the best experiences you're going to have because they're not going to be
01:49 super crowded. But if you've got miles and points, boring a hole in your pocket, of course,
01:54 you can always try to find a last minute redemption. There are opportunities all
01:58 across the country and even around the world for last minute travel if you are ambitious enough.
02:03 Are there any places where you would suggest looking for a few of those last minute options?
02:07 So my favorite tool to use is Google. So what you do is you just type your
02:12 home airport into Google and leave the destination blank and then hit search. It'll come up with the
02:17 cheapest destinations within 100, 500, even the whole world of your house. So it'll show you what
02:24 the cheapest options are. It's a great way to find last minute deals for places you might not
02:28 have thought of. We're kind of getting close to the end of the weekend getaway season here into
02:33 the fall. So how far ahead should you get to the airport during the late summer, early fall? And
02:40 what kind of recommendations you have for travel that way? Yeah, so we're still telling people to
02:45 get to the airport extra early just because of air traffic controller shortages are still ongoing. So
02:50 sometimes that can lead to snarls. So if you're leaving from a hub like Newark, for example,
02:55 or anywhere in the Northeast where they're having ATC problems, I would get to the airport three
03:00 hours early. Also have a backup plan in case things go sideways. But fall is really the
03:05 best time to travel. It's where I recommend people travel the most because the crowds are gone.
03:10 You get cheaper prices. I love shoulder season. It's some of the best times to visit places like
03:15 Europe, but also some of the national parks. Go to Bozeman. Go to Yellowstone. I think it's a great
03:20 time to go. You have the parks a little bit more to yourself and prices have dropped substantially.
03:26 Clint, we always appreciate your insight here as we love to travel. A lot of us have an interest
03:32 in that. The weather's always a part of that conversation here as we kind of step away from
03:36 a landfalling hurricane. Clint Henderson, managing editor of The Points Guy. Thanks again, Clint.
03:40 Happy travels.